Inking device



H. W. CLARK INKING DEVICE Feb. 11, 1941.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed June 8, 1959 Feb. 11 1941. H w, CLARK2,231,253

INKING DEVICE Original Filed June 8, 1939 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb.11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE INKING DEVICE corporation of OhioOriginal application June 8, 1939, Serial No.

278,091. 12, 1940, Serial No. 32

Claims.

The invention relates to cash registers and similar calculatingmachines, and the present application is a division of my co-pendingapplication Serial Number 278,091, filed June 8, 1939,

5 and relates more particularly to a novel type of inking device.

It is a very convenient and desirable feature for cash registers andsimilar machines to be provided with two paper strips for recordingtransactions upon the machine, one strip forming a record or detailstrip which is automatically rewound within the machine so as to benormally inaccessible, the portion of the other strip upon which eachtransaction is printed being adapted to be torn or cut off after eachtransaction providing a receipt to be given to the customer.

Attempts have been made to provide paper equipment for producing theabove results by passing two strips of paper one across the other atsubstantially right angles to printing position; and also to obtain thedesired result by passing two superimposed strips of paper upwardbetween the usual printing mechanism and the platen roll, but there arecertain objections to such methods as they require more or lesscomplicated mechanisms and in some cases result in a considerable wasteof the paper.

An object of the present improvement is to provide a new and novel typeof inking device especially adapted for use in a duplicate printingmachine which overcomes the objections to the type of paper feeding andprinting mechanism above referred to.

Another object is to provide an inking device which will operateeffectively to ink type segments or sectors formed upon or rigidlyattached to the bell cranks which operate the conventional typecarriers.

A further object is to provide a substantially rectangular frame movablein unison with one of the type bars and carrying an ink ribbon having anarea substantially equal to thatof the type bars.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such a rectangularink ribbon carrying frame having a lug operatively engaging one of thetype bars.

Still another object is to provide such a rectangular frame resting bygravity and movable in unison with one of the type bars.

Another object is to provide such an ink ribbon frame curved to conformto the curvature of the type bars.

A further object is to provide pivotally mounted, curved arms and meansfor detachably Divided and this application April ing description, orwhich may be later referred 5 to, may be attained by constructing theimproved inking device in the manner hereinafter described, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional View through the rear portion of a cash registerembodying the invention;

Fig. 2, a fragmentary sectional elevation of the rear portion of thecash register;

Fig. 3, a fragmentary elevation viewed from the opposite side of themachine from Figs. 1 and 2, of the pawl and ratchet mechanism forrotating the platen for the duplicate printing mechanism;

Fig. 4, a detached perspective view of one of the type segments for theduplicate printing mechanism;

Fig. 5, an enlarged fragmentary sectional elevation taken transverselythrough the machine showing the bell cranks which position theconventional type carriers for printing and the type segments for theduplicate printing carried upon said bell cranks;

Fig. 6, a perspective view of the bracket carrying the printing ribbonwhich cooperates with the type segments, showing the printing ribboncarried thereby; and

Fig. 7, an elevation of the printing ribbon and removable frame by meansof which it is attached to the bracket shown in Fig. 6.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The invention is shown as applied to a Mc- Caskey cash register of thegeneral type disclosed in Johantgen Patents No. 1,306,112 and No.1,336,840, the general calculating machine structure being substantiallyas shown in said patents, and therefore, the same will be described onlybriefly herein and only insofar as it relates to the duplicate printingmechanism to which the present application pertains, reference beingmade to said Johantgen patents for further disclosure thereof.

It should be understood that the disclosure herein is one embodiment ofthe invention which may be carried out in other forms and upon otherwell known types of calculating machines and that the invention isequally applicable to the hand operated type of cash register or themotor driven type of register in which a motor key or bar is substitutedfor the hand lever to operate the main shaft of the machine to recordeach item or total of a transaction or a grand total of alltransactions.

The machine illustrated is adapted to be controlled in customary mannerby the usual depressible amount keys, not shown, by the operation ofwhich the various items are set up in the machine in usual manner, themachine being operated to print each item and enter it into theaccumulating mechanism by operation of the hand lever or depression ofthe item key H as the case may be, all as in usual and well. knownpractice.

As in usual practice, the main shaft, not shown, may be operated eitherby the usual hand lever or the usual motor key for operating the machineafter the proper amount keys are depressed for each item to perform theusual adding and. printing operations in usual and ordinary manner torecord each item or total, as the case may be.

As is customary in machines of this type, the main shaft, not shown, maybe operatively connected to the yoke l5, pivoted as at [8 upon astationary part of the frame of the machine, such as the bracket l9.

Means not forming a part of this invention, and therefore notillustrated, may operatively connect the yoke Hi to the usual platenroll 24, so as to rotate said platen roll step by step in acounter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 1.

A rocker arm 48 is fixed upon the rocker shaft 49, which is journaledtransversely through the machine, and a spring 50 is connected to thestud 5! upon the free end of said rocker arm and to the yoke It at apoint above and in rear of the pivotal point l8 thereof. A pull spring52 is also connected to the stud 5| and to the base 53 of the machine.

The usual bell crank levers 5 3, common in ma chines of this type, arejournaled upon the transverse shaft 55 in well known manner and a typecarrier 55 provided with a type bar 5-! is pivotally mounted upon eachbell crank, as at 58, and the arms 59 of the bell cranks are pivotallyconnected as at 60 to the usual links 6! by means of which the bellcranks are operated in customary manner to properly position the typebars 51 in order to print upon the receipt strip 52 as it is movedaround the platen 24.

A segment 63 is fixed to or formed upon each bell crank 54 and extendsrearwardly therefrom and is provided with an arcuate type bar 54corresponding to the type bar 5!- associated with the same bell crank 54and so arranged that it will always assume the position relative to theplaten that the corresponding type bar 51 assumes relative to the platen24.

The ribbon 6B is located between the type bars 64 and the platen 65, andis carried in a flexible frame 61 detachably connected to the curvedarms 68 which are journaled upon the transverse shaft 55.

Means is provided for selectively positioning the ribbon carrying frame6! so that different portions of the ribbon 55, from top to bottomthereof, are successively moved to printing position relative to theseveral type on each type bar, so that all portions of the rectangularribbon are used to substantially the same extent.

This means may be controlled by the type bars themselves, and as shownin the drawings, the ribbon carrying frame is selectively moved by thetype bar 64 for the tens of cents column. In practice it has. been foundthat in total operations of a calculating machine the digits in thisparticular column are more uniformly distributed from 0 to 9 than in anyother column, and since the duplicate printing mechanism to which thisapplication pertains is shown as adapted to print only the totals uponthe record or detail strip, this particular type bar is selected tooperate the movement of the printing ribbon.

For this purpose a lug 63a, upon the cross bar 682), of the arms 68,rests upon the type bar 64 for the tens of cents column, so that thearms and frame 6.! will move downward by gravity with said type bar, andwill assume a selective printing position corresponding to the printingposition of said type bar.

As the particular type bar, which controls the movement of the ribbon66, may be moved to any one of ten pro-determined positions with eachoperation, and as each of the other type bars 55 may assume any one often different positions, it will be seen that due to this chanceselection of printing location the entire area of the rectangular ribbon66 will be substantially uniformly used for printing, thus permittingone ribbon to be used for a considerable length of time before itbecomes so badly worn that a good impression cannot be obtained.

For the purpose of easily attaching and detaching the ribbon, notches 59may be formed in the upper portion of the flexible frame 61 throughwhich the attaching screws 15 may be located after the projections H atthe lower end of the flexible frame are engaged under the lugs l2 uponthe curved arms 68.

The rear platen 65 is carried in a U-shaped frame comprising thedepending arms 13 and rigid cross bar M, the arms being pivoted at theirupper ends in the rear of the bar 74 to the frame as indicated at 15 sothat the platen may be swung toward or from the type bars 64.

One end of the shaft 16 of the platen 65 is extended into a block Hwhich is pivoted as at 78 to the slotted plate 79 the other end of whichplate is pivoted upon the stud 5| on the rocker arm 48.

A cam slot 85 is formed in the plate 19 and receives the stud Bl uponthe arm 82 of the yoke 16. This slot has a lug 83 projecting into itslower forward corner for a purpose to be later described.

A backing up roller 84 is journaled upon a shaft 85 fixed to the lowerends of the links 86 which are pivoted at 15, and springs 81 between thelinks 85 and arms 13 of the U-shaped frame normally hold the backing uproller 84 against the platen 65,

The stock roll for the record or detail strip may be placed within asuitable holder or container in the lower rear corner of the case 95 ofthe machine, the record strip 9| passing upward therefrom behind a bar92 in the case located adjacent to the hinged door 53 on the back of thecase by means of which access may be had to the record strip by anauthorized person.

The record strip then passes over the roller or rod 94 then down betweenthe backing up roll 84 and platen 65 and under and around said platenand then up and around the rewinding spool 95 which has frictionallyconnected thereto a sprocket wheel, not shown, connected by sprocketchain 9'! with a sprocket wheel, not shown, upon the shaft 23 of theconventional platen 24; whereby the rewind spool 95 will beautomatically operated by rotation of the platen 24 to rewind the recordstrip and keep the same under tension at all times.

A ratchet wheel I l l is fixed to the platen shaft 16 on the end thereofopposite to the block 11 and is engaged by a holding pawl H8 pivoted asat H9 upon the frame 31 and held in engagement with the ratchet H1 as bya spring I20.

An operating pawl [M is pivoted intermediate its ends at I22 upon theframe 3! and held in operative position relative to the ratchet as by aspring I23.

In the operation of the machine, as each item is set up and recorded,the machine will operate in usual and well known manner to print theitem only on the receipt strip 62 by means of the type bars 51.

For the purpose of causing the type 64 to print upon the record strip9!, means, disclosed in detail in my co-pending application, Serial No.278,091, of which this is a division, may be provided for rotating therocker shaft 59 forwardly, raising the rocker arm t8 and with it theadjacent end of the plate 19, locating the projection 83 in the slot 89of said plate in the path of the stud 8! upon the arm 82 of the yoke 16,so that clockwise movement of said arm will engage the stud 8! with theprojection 83, sliding the plate 19 forward, or to the right as viewedin Fig. 2 and pulling the platen 65 against the type bars 64, so as toprint the same total upon the record strip 9i which the type bars 51print upon the receipt strip 62.

As the platen shaft 76 is pulled forward, a tooth of the ratchet wheelll'l thereon, as shown in Fig. 2, will ride over the operating pawl Hi,and upon return movement of the platen shaft 16, the ratchet II? will berotated one tooth, so as to space the record strip 9! ready for the nextprinting operation thereon.

I claim:

1. In a key-set calculating machine having independently movable typebars and an operating mechanism therefor and a platen adapted to receivethe impressions of the selected type of the type bars, a substantiallyrectangular frame movable in unison with one of said type bars and anink ribbon carried by said frame and having an area substantially equalto that of the type bars.

2. In a key-set calculating machine having independently movable typebars and an operating mechanism therefor and a platen adapted to receivethe impressions of the selected type of the type bars, a substantiallyrectangular frame movable in unison with and having a lug operativelyengaging one of said type bars, and an ink ribbon carried by said frameand having an area substantially equal to that of the type bars.

3. In a key-set calculating machine having independently movable typebars and an operating mechanism therefor and a platen adapted to receivethe impressions of the selected type of the type bars, a substantiallyrectangular frame resting by gravity upon and movable in unison with oneof said type bars and an ink ribbon carried by said frame and having anarea substantially equal to that of the type bars.

4. In a key-set calculating machine having independently movable curvedtype bars and an operating mechanism therefor and a platen adapted toreceive the impressions of the selected type of the type bars, asubstantially rectangular frame movable in unison with one of said typebars and curved to conform to the curvature of said type bars, and anink ribbon carried by said frame and having an area substantially equalto that of the type bars.

5. In a key-set calculating machine having independently movable typebars and an operating mechanism therefor and a platen adapted to receivethe impressions of the selected type of the type bars, a substantiallyrectangular movable frame, an ink ribbon carried by said frame andhaving an area substantially equal to that of the type bars, and meansfor selectively moving the frame to a plurality of positions relative tothe type bars.

HAROLD W. CLARK.

